The Bossier banner., 1887-10-13
A THRILLING STORY.
Exciting Page from the Life Of q
Prospector.


mountains" said John Sanderson, an
old prospector who has his head
quarters at Ell Paso, but who makes
several incursions into the mining dis
kicts every year.
HALF of them believe in ghosts, nine
out Of ten in signs, and about all of
them in luck. My own experience has
changed my views in good many
PARTICULARS, and, for one thing, it has
made me a firm believer in special
woyidences. 1t didn't come about
gradually, but through as marvellous
escape from an awful death as, l be-
Geve, ever falls to men.
ut happened up in the Mimbres
mountains four years ago this summer.
The Mimbres lie in New Mexico, down
below old Fort Tule Rosa. and they must
hfull of gold somewhere, because the
beds Of the creeks that find their way
down the sides are so rich in placer
dggings that you can't pull up a sage
brush around there without seeing
bright specks among the roots. / had
apet theory then that if you followed
The creeks up high enough and looked
close enough you would find tre-
nendous deposit of gold in decomposed
quartz. ! thought, you see, that lit
lie Of it had washed off the surface in
TIE course of time and formed those
pacers. What wanted to find was
he mother mine.
y talked the thing up to Charley
Burke, another prospector and friend
q mine. until he agreed to put up half
ne outfit and join me in the search.
hegot a couple of burros, the neces-
ary tools, and started early in the
pnng. The country about the MINI
pres is about as wild and desolate as
any on earth, and it was trip that
nothing but faith and enthusiasm would
prompt man to attempt. 1t was one
mceession Of gorges. gulches and ac-
snsllles. all strewn with granite
ooWiders from the size of a mans hand
four-story block. and often we
we're obliged to leave the water-course
se were following and make detours
nat took days at time.
The creek we followed was almost
" and we stopped frequently looking
nf piacers. We found no very rich
snes' but everywhere there was gold.
~meimes there would be lots of it in
g bottom of the tin cup after we had
wen drink, and sometimes-here is
seurious thing-it would be floating
z sne surface. l will let some one who
better posted in science than I tell
~ gold now and then floats; but I
nly Know that little flakes of it do,
au 3 lot OF 1t is lost in sluice-mining
1a' way. As long as we found placers
3 Knew that the main deposit was
M 50 we pushed along, tired
u0ugn but confident. At last we
aae 70 aspot where the sand was barren
= several days journey, and then
y oegan to prospect the country all
s0O0o. To make long story short,
) s1uck a ledge one morning with
opplngs that crumbled under nv
s.. and showed quartz all streaked
- yellow threads. Charley 1
.s'lea out, all aire at once, we have
nut before we sunk shaft we found
ne'nlng else that sent our hearts to
n -, mouths. 1t was an old shaft, back
s.a ssas ways, and in a claim, properly
a out that covered that very
ssss E There was a notification ac-
s1ng to law on one Of the posts that
sl ~ summer and Joseph Klautzy had
49, ~ possession of the Big Six and
~ tae legal assessment work. I sat
~ u0wn collapsed. but Charley went
- 70 the shaft and came back to tell
y mat it didn't cover half the amount
y. under the law, to hold the
sss s'sy ior year. We measured it,
H.. s,re enough, it was down only
s ~ nai the required distance. So
A..Oa Oa possession of the property,
q go its name to The Treasury
= vent to work.